We writer types cling to our laptops like they're some sort of bionic extra limbs during our travels — much to the chagrin of the poor TSA clerks whose line we're holding up to scramble the suckers into their own little x-ray boxes, no doubt — so, is it sort of the same thing for a method-style actor to always keep his or her most prized costume within arm's reach?

For Johnny Depp, apparently, it is ... and not just because he's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, either.

According to him, it's necessary that he has his infamously snazzy "Pirates of the Caribbean" Jack Sparrow suit at the ready wherever he goes 'cause he's hip to pop into the swashbuckler gear every now to surprise the "kiddies" (his word, not ours). With what, you ask? Yo ho ho and a bottle of ... milk? 99 bottles of formula on the wall?

"Sometimes you go to like kiddie hospitals and things like that," he told E! News of his penchant for keeping his blimey seadog threads close. "I'll just sneak in and surprise a buncha kiddies and go to different wards dressed up as Captain Jack. And it basically turns into about a two or three hour improvisation kind of thing, and it's kind of fun, so I always kind of travel with [it]."

Adorable, not weird, right? Right. Because there's zero doubt about Depp's truthiness here. There are multiple, multiple fan accounts to back him up on this one.

Like who can forget the little lass Beatrice Delap, who got a visit from the Cap'n after writing in to ask his assistance with a school mutiny as he was filming "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" a couple of years ago?

As producer Jerry Bruckheimer explained during a recent conference for "The Lone Ranger" (the costume for which Depp won't soon be toting around for logistical reasons: "that bird going through customs?"), Depp's character-wielding generosity stems from the fact that the guy totally "knows he is a very fortunate person and he wants to give back."

Ahoy, me Hearties! Thar she blows!

We should note that, while eccentric and neurotic and pretty much something only an A-lister could pull off, the maneuver does smartly stave off potentially catastrophic situations like what Robert Downey, Jr. recently encountered with a pint-sized "Iron Man" fanatic who didn't understand the lack of suit.